Neighbor Island Watch

Lawmakers on Maui are calling for 80% of future housing to be made designated as "affordable housing". Maui News has the scoop:

Four months ago, Tavares proposed that 80 percent of all housing projects be earmarked as affordable to families in a range of 50 percent to 160 percent of median income ($31,180 to $99,760 for a family of four). The county’s policy for affordable housing now is for households earning between 80 percent and 120 percent ($49,880 to $74,820) of median income.

That policy leaves out the very low income and the “gap group” of working families – those who make more than 120 percent of median but who still are not able to buy a house on the open market, where the median price of a single family house in 2005 ranged from $613,500 to $679,000.

Plans are being draw for a "New Age socialist republic in Hamakua" on the Big Island. Hawaii Reporter breaks it down here.